Two New Purchases

I recently acquired these two clocks locally. One was clearly a run-of-the-mill gingerbread clock (in rather nice shape), and the second one was for a plain looking mantle clock. This was for sale locally through Kijiji (similar to Craigslist) with a single photo, and a rather brief description:





I was almost tempted to buy only the gingerbread clock, but the price was so cheap I decided it may well be worth it to get the mantle clock for parts. Since the seller was just on the outskirts of town (and I have no car), I asked him if he'd be willing to drop them off, and I sweetened the deal by offering 40$. He counter-offered 45$ but I felt this seemed a bit greedy as I had already doubled his asking price, so I didn't reply. A week later he responded and said he'd take the 40$ and he could deliver them.

When he dropped them off, he mentioned that they had recently come out of either a barn or an attic recently. The first one he pulled out was the mantle clock, and as soon as he handed it over to me, and I saw that it was solid 1/4 sawn oak, I knew it was not going to be "junk" or "for parts". After he left, I took a closer look at both clocks. The plain mantle clock had an ill-fitting modern dial stuck to the original dial plate (hiding the winding holes), but the clock had its original CHROME PLATED movement, and a telltale gong block, and the original pendulum bob. My suspicions were confirmed when I turned the clock over and saw the original label.

The clock is an Arthur Pequegnat!

Pequegnat clocks are highly prized and collectible (especially up here) as he was one of the only few Canadian clockmakers to exist here in Canada. We certainly had lots of clocks here, but they were all largely Connecticut made USA clocks with overpasted labels. There were primarily only two major clock companies that were Canadian. One being Pequegnat, and the other being the Hamilton Clock Co. As a result, these clocks are much more scarce, and collectible. In all my years collecting (since 2004) this is the first one that I happen to come across (other than online).



Pequegnat clocks have this specifically shaped gong block/stand and I don't believe any other company used this pattern:



This particular model is the Pertoerboro (the name of a city in Canada):



It is not a very early Pequegnat clock, however (which would be more desirable). It bears the name "Kitchener Ontario", which was formerly known as Berlin Ontario. The city changed its name shortly after the war, as Germany was not popular at that time for obvious reasons.

I thought that the chrome-plated key might be original, because it matches the chrome plated movement, but it's not a good fit.



The gingerbread is a New Haven, and it also has a complete and intact label which identifies it as the DUXBURY model. However, even with the model name, it doesn't appear to be in any of the catalogues from the company. The fact that it uses a multicoloured glass (mainly gold, but with added sections in black and blue) would make me think that it's before 1900, since this detail was largely on earlier clocks, and phased out in later ones to save time, materials, and money.





Someone had added a nail with a plastic tube into the base as a pendulum fastener (I ended up removing this -not because it doesn't work, but because it's just plain ugly). The original hands are with both clocks.



Seems like this movement had the option for an alarm, but one was never fitted.





The gingerbread needs to have the crest reglued to the body, and a new triangular glue block on top behind the crest. The latch tip is also broken, and the movement needs cleaning. The main issue with it is the dial. This is the original painted dial, but 90% is flaked off. A paper dial is not a good option, as this dial is recessed and curved (it's not flat).

The Pequegnat has similar condition issues. The case, movement, and parts are all there, it's just the dial. It originally had a white-painted zinc dial with silk-screened fancy numerals. The shadows from the original numbers are still faintly visible on the zinc, so I can tell exactly which design it used to have, which is this:





This is a rather specific "Fancy Arabic" pattern, with more of a Gothic type font (square zero) and 4-dot hour markers. No paper replacements match this, and hand-painting this would be exceptionally tedious and time consuming. The closest pattern commercially available is also only available with the Ansonia label slapped on it:



I will likely custom-make a printed dial for this to match the original style.

Stay tuned!

8 Day Rosewood New Haven Miniature Ogee - Restoration

The title is a bit of a mouthful, but this is a rather long-to-describe clock. It's a miniature ogee clock made by the New Haven Clock Company, and while most of these tend to be 30 hour duration, this one is an 8 day example. The case is nicely veneered in rosewood, and it's actually an "O.O.G" design, which simply means that it has a concave and convex moulding used for the door and edge band on the case (as opposed to flat).

This is a pretty new purchase (Nov 16 2016), and it's the most recent clock I've purchased. While it looked to be in great shape in the listing photos, there was a bit of damage to it (largely cosmetic), however, it arrived even more damaged. While in transit the movement tore loose, and I was very lucky that neither glass was broken. In addition to this, the door rattled apart, veneer was torn loose, as well as several of the dial blocks. The gong also got slightly mangled, and the dial was slightly warped.

Here are some blurry photos I took just as I was unwrapping the clock.







The movement and dial (as well as all the loose bits of wood and parts) were carefully removed from the case. The dial on this clock is especially lovely. I later gave it a very gentle cleaning to remove some of the dirt.







The door would not close.



Two damaged corners:



Damaged lower right corner.



This spot I could see in the listing photos. It almost looks like a later repair that was done in mahogany rather than rosewood. Some of the banding around the outside edge looks like it could be either wood. I ended up replacing this entire section of veneer.



Top right corner of the door. This is an old repair. I thought of re-repairing it, but ultimately I left it alone and glued it back in place.



The door catch was NOT original, and it was a very poor replacement.



Loose door frame (lower left corner) with a tiny chip.



This was by far the worst of the damage, because it's not something that can be fixed. All these scratches to the backboard were from the movement that had torn free and bounced around. The only way to remove the marks would be to sand or scrape the backboard, and this would ruin the original surface.





Some of the debris.



So now what? Well, it looks rather bad, but it's all fixable. The warped sections of the dial were fixed with gentle finger pressure. The gong was reset fairly easily, and that largely just leaves woodworking problems. A bunch of small pieces were still present (like the broken top left corner of the door), and the rest could be patched.

Here is that wide section of flaky mahogany veneer. I fixed this area with some salvaged rosewood veneer which was already curved. This came from a completely destroyed donor case. For repairs like this, where the clock case is still in good shape, and the original finish is still good, I will do all the repairs and patches without refinishing the case. I simply sand a bit past the new repairs, and then I blend everything in. One of the best parts about antiques finished with shellac is that the new will melt and blend into the old. The only time this doesn't work well is if the existing finish has crackled or alligatored.



Top corner of the door. This was sanded down to level it out a bit better.



Bottom corner of the door. There are sanding marks on a fairly wide spot because part of the edge also broke and had to be glued. That long scratch was also largely buffed and polished out.



Bottom right corner:



All of the screw holes on this clock needed repairs. I decided to plug and patch all the dial holes using pine slivers (not toothpicks) and putty. The top corner block also had a big chunk of wood broken off.



The lower movement mounting block was in pieces. It had broken in 3, but it also had a diagonal break in it, and 2 added nails through it, which I removed.





It had to be clamped in two sessions.



The last things to do were to apply some shellac to the repairs, and then buff the finish and wax polish. Once that was done, I tackled the movement.

The original springs were in terrible shape. Not only were they set (where they don't open up much once they are free/out of the movement), they were also warped and crooked (which isn't good either). I decided to install a new pair of springs. I don't know why, but one of my two new springs opened up about twice as much as the other. I don't replace springs very often, but maybe someone can let me know if this is normal. Both these springs are new, and they are from the same manufacturer, and they were bought at the same time. Tiles are 12" x 12".



All the clock parts after cleaning:



The movement was in fairly good condition, but I did have to dress-up a few pivots on the lathe, and I installed a pair of bushing to the escape wheel.

After re-assembly and during testing:



Here you can see the repaired bottom mounting block. I also had to plug and re-drill all the mounting holes in the backboard.



This is the best photo (out of about a half dozen) that shows the area of the banding that I replaced. I did get a tiny bit of a chip in there, but it matches the overall finish and condition of the clock. I don't remember if I used any stain on this repair. If I did, it was a very light brown, followed by shellac (maybe 5 thin coats?)



Here is the finished clock. It was photographed in late afternoon sun, so the veneer looks a lot lighter and brighter than normal.







I am not familiar with this tablet. I have seen thousands of tablets, and I know a lot of the patterns from memory, but this is not one that I remember seeing. It doesn't seem to have a title, and if it did, that area has flaked away. If anyone has any information about it, or has a photo of another one like it, please let me know.

Note: I was able to find and fit a spare antique door catch, which I had in my spare parts. It is especially well suited to this clock because this door catch is a slightly smaller size than usual.





Here is the clock just slightly ahead of a standard ogee clock (the E.N. Welch which you can see here: http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2016/05/e-n-welch-ogee-clock-restoration.html). The standard ogee clock measures 26" x 15.5", and the miniature measures 18 1/8" x 11.5". The dial has a 5" chapter ring.